Party Planning

Christmas is upon us once again. You want to have a party with some friends over but you have no idea where to begin.

First things first, figure out your theme. Maybe wander around a few stores to see what is new and remind you what you have and what you need. Once you have a theme in mind, the rest should fall into place.

There are lots of different themes you can pick from: Snowmen, Silver and Blue, Gold, Reindeer, Santa, Poinsettia, the list goes on!

Decide how many people you want to invite. Do you have enough room? Will you need to rent extra tables and chairs? Do this NOW. If you wait too late chances are there may not be any available on the date that you need them.

Knowing how many people are coming you can now decide about food. Do you want to serve a sit down dinner? Stand up appetizers? Buffet? What foods do you need? What do you need to order now? What do you need to get just before the party? Lists will become your best friend right now.

Grab a small notebook to make your lists in and leave them in your purse. Now when you are out and about you can check your progress and hopefully things off your list!

Recycling Egg Cartons for Christmas

Start saving up your egg cartons now. You will be needing them at Christmas. What for you ask??

Open them up and place your fragile ornaments into the egg cups. When it is full, simply close it and place it in your storage box.

Your ornaments will be more protected now, and you don’t have to worry about dropping one because it got hung up on another wrapper.

Christmas Pie Gifts

When you make your Christmas Pies this year, if you can make up one or two extra.

Drop them off at the local Fire Station or Police department so that those that have to work get a special treat also.

Christmas Birthday Celebration

Your family can make a new tradition for your Christmas celebration.

The night before Christmas bake a birthday cake and let the kids decorate it for Jesus.

In the morning after everyone is up, unwrap your presents as normal. After all the Christmas presents are opened, place one candle on the cake and light it.

Everyone can now sing happy birthday to Jesus and thank him for the wonderful presents and for the day to celebrate his birth.

Holiday Drinks

Want to have some fun with your holiday drinks? Here are some great ideas!

For frosty beer mugs, place glass beer mugs in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

To spice up a tall glass of beer, add a shot of amaretto, rum, vodka or whisky. For a more subtle taste add a shot of lime juice.

Use fresh cut fruit or vegetable sticks for drink stirrers. Popular ones are carrots, celery, pineapple and pickles.

For glass decorations use thin slices of lemon, lime, orange or star fruit.

Christmas Cookie Party

Don't have time for a full holiday party this year? For a fun holiday get together invite all your friends and neighbors over for a Christmas Cookie exchange.

Count the number of guests that you are inviting, have each guest bring twice that many cookies plus a dozen and one recipe for the cookie for each family that will be attending.

Once everyone gets there, make up a plate of cookies for each family in attendance that has 2 cookies and 1 recipe for each person.

Take the additional dozen and set out for everyone to snack on.

To add a bit more fun, create a contest for the best tasting, most original, etc.

Pick up a bottle of wine or a small gift for the prizes.

The best part is that no one goes home empty handed either because each family has a plate of different cookies to enjoy when they leave!

COOKING A STUFFED TURKEY

Cooking a stuffed turkey can be a bit tricky. No matter what method you choose, you will need to make sure that you bake your bird to an internal meat temperature of 165º in an oven no less than 325º.

If you cook the turkey at any temperature less than that the stuffing will not cook thoroughly. The stuffing internal temperature needs to be more than 140º to kill any bacteria.

Using a slow cooking method with a stuffed bird has been known to cause numerous food poisening cases.

To prevent this, you can put some stuffing into your bird, but cook the remainder in a pan in the oven. When you serve the bird, do not serve the stuffing inside the bird.

Another option is to bake the stuffing in another pan in the oven, then stuff the bird just before serving.

COOKING A STUFFED TURKEY

Cooking a stuffed turkey can be a bit tricky. No matter what method you choose, you will need to make sure that you bake your bird to an internal meat temperature of 165º in an oven no less than 325º.

If you cook the turkey at any temperature less than that the stuffing will not cook thoroughly. The stuffing internal temperature needs to be more than 140º to kill any bacteria.

Using a slow cooking method with a stuffed bird has been known to cause numerous food poisening cases.

To prevent this, you can put some stuffing into your bird, but cook the remainder in a pan in the oven. When you serve the bird, do not serve the stuffing inside the bird.

Another option is to bake the stuffing in another pan in the oven, then stuff the bird just before serving.

Holiday Prosecco

You are having a Christmas party and you want to serve something a bit different this year. Here is a treat that not only tastes great but is quite affordable.

Prosecco is an italian wine that is a bit stronger in alcohol strength than beer. It is named for the Prosecco grape.

It is dry and crisp with hints of fruit.

You can serve it just like champagne and with it's low price a bottle it is great to use for large groups of people.

Nuttier Nuts

The holidays are upon us and all of the recipes are asking for nuts. So how do you toast nuts for most recipes? Here is a quick guide. Be sure to use the prepared and toasted nuts as soon as possible, or store in a tightly sealed container.

To toast the nuts you can place them in a single layer in a baking dish or baking sheet. Keep a close eye on them because the times below are suggested. Once nuts begin to toast they can burn very quickly.

You can bake all of the following nuts at 375°F for 4-6 minutes, you can tell that they are done when:

Pecans - Toasted color will be slightly darker than raw color

Walnuts - Toasted color wil be pale brown and a definate stronger aroma

Macadamia Nuts - Toasted color will be golden brown

Hazlenuts - Toasted color will be darker than the raw nut and the skins may begin to crack

Almonds - Toasted color will be a light golden brown

Holiday Pies

When you make your Holiday Pies this year, if you can make up one or two extra.

Drop them off at the local Fire Station or Police department so that those that have to work get a special treat also.